To filter liquids and/or gases of undesired contaminants, filters and/or purification media e.g., granular resins, granulated carbon, carbon fiber, soda lime and the like, are used in enclosed filter housings to effectuate contaminant removal. In a common filter capsule configuration, ports are positioned to occupy different planes or extend from the capsule in different directions, such as shown in published application No.: US 2010/0282665. In that application, the inlet and outlet ports are positioned at diametrically opposed locations at the top end of the capsule. This configuration requires a substantial amount of space within a larger assembly to receive the capsule and to secure the ports, which thereby limits the possible orientation variations if a panel mount configuration is desired. It further increases the effort needed to attach the capsule as connections have to be made at two entirely different locations. What is needed is a filter capsule having ports oriented to extend from a capsule in a uniform direction to reduce the space required for attachment to a larger assembly and to facilitate the simultaneous connection of multiple tubes for the ingress and egress of desired fluids and/or gases.
A further problem associated with filter capsules, particularly those with inlet ports located at the tops of the capsules, is post filtration sanitation. The infusion of hot liquids (or even in some applications, the introduction of cooled liquids and/or gases), such as hot water for sanitation processes, results in the formation of a significant temperature gradient whereby liquid introduced into the top end of the filter capsule (the locus of the inlet port), has a much higher temperature than the liquid located at the bottom of the capsule. What is needed is an inlet system that originates from a filter capsule top, but that directs incoming hot (or cooled) liquids to the bottom of the capsule to harness rising heat transfer in the introduced liquids and/or gases to create a significantly more uniform temperature gradient from bottom to top.
A yet further problem results when trying to combine loose particulate (e.g., resin) based filters such as activated carbon with membrane or cartridge based filters constructed from membrane and fibrous type filter media. Loose resin based filter materials such as activated carbon filters are particulate and create flow fields that only permit liquid and/or gas flow in a single direction. The addition of a cartridge based filter with a defined and designated downstream core, positioned downstream of the loose particulate material, further limits the location of an outlet port at a downstream or bottom end of the capsule. For applications with tight spatial requirements, it is not currently possible to position an outlet at the top or upstream end of a capsule when using loose material, e.g., loose particulate based filter media. What is needed is a filter capsule construction that permits the location of the outlet port at the top of the filter capsule when using loose particular filter media. These and other objects of the disclosure will become apparent from a reading of the following summary and detailed description of the disclosure as well as a review of the appended drawings.